AA St. Paul Saints

Cooper Guides Saints to 9-5 Win in Wednesday's Game, Lose Continuation of Tuesday Postponement 19-6

Published on August 11, 2010 under American Association (AA)
St. Paul Saints News Release


ST. PAUL, MN (August 11, 2010) - The St. Paul Saints used their veteran leadership to bounce back from a blow out loss in the continuation on Tuesday night's postponement to defeat the Sioux City Explorers 9-5 on Wednesday afternoon at Midway Stadium in front of 6,322. The Saints lost the continuation of Tuesday night's game 19-6.

Jason Cooper provided everything the Saints needed going 4-4, falling a triple shy of the cycle with an RBI and a run scored. With the Saints trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the first Josh Alley led off with a walk, stole second and went to third on a throwing error by catcher Matt Kramer. Chad Gabriel's groundout scored Alley to make it 2-1. With two outs Cooper singled, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Brent Krause's single. Krause would advance to third on a wild pitch and score when Josh Burrus reached on a throwing error from third baseman Kent Sakamoto.

The Saints took a 5-2 lead in the third and Krause reached another franchise milestone in the process. Cooper led off with a double and Krause knocked him home with a double of his own to make it 4-2. Two batters later Krause scored on a sacrifice fly, the 220th of his Saints career surpassing Adam Olow's (2003-07) franchise record of 219.

The Explorers managed to tie it with three runs in fifth, but in the bottom of the fifth Cooper came calling in a big way. He led off the inning with a solo homer to right, his ninth of the season, giving the Saints a 6-5 lead. Brandon Carter's infield single later on in the inning would give the Saints some breathing room which is all closer Matt Meyer needed.

Meyer pitched the final two innings, not allowing a hit while walking one and striking out four to earn his eighth save of the season.

In the continuation of Tuesday night's rainout the Saints went in trailing 9-4 in the bottom of the fifth. Things looked bring when Chad Gabriel hit a solo homer, his second of the season and Cooper also hit a solo homer, his eighth of the season, to make it 9-6.

The Explorers, however, turned on the offense scoring seven runs in the sixth inning to blow the game wide open en route to a 19-6 victory.

The Saints jumped all over Explorers starter David Welch in the first inning sending eight men to the plate and scoring four runs. Josh Alley led off with a single, stole second and went to third on a throwing error from catcher Ray Serrano. Chad Gabriel gave the Saints a 1-0 lead with an RBI single to left. Ole Sheldon followed with a double putting runners at second and third. Jason Cooper belted his 29th double of the season, one shy of the Saints single season mark, scoring both runs and giving the Saints a 3-0 lead. Two batters later Cooper scored on a single from Josh Burrus giving the Saints a 4-0 lead.

In the third the Explorers cut the deficit to one. Derek Schermerhorn led off with an infield single and Darrick Hale sacrificed him to second. With two outs Tim Alberts was hit by a pitch. A wild pitch scored Schermerhorn and TJ Bohn nailed a two-run homer to left, his 13th of the season, making it 4-3.

The Explorers sent 11 men to the plate in the fourth and scored six runs. With two on and one out Hale drove home two with a double to give the Explorers their first lead of the night at 5-4. Eric Williams walked and a single by Alberts loaded the bases. Bohn hit a grounder to second, but Brandon Carter's throw to second pulled Steve Mays off the bag allowing Alberts to be safe at first and scoring Hale to make it 6-4. Jacob Cruz followed with a two-run single making it 8-4 and the final run scored on a fielding error by third baseman Brent Krause to make it 9-4.

The final game of the four game series is Thursday night at 7:05 p.m. at Midway Stadium. The Saints send RHP Zach Peterson (6-5, 3.42) to the mound against Explorers RHP Mikael Ryder (8-6, 4.46). It is a Tribute to AC's presented by Daiken McQuay. The game can be seen on the Saints Cable Network (check saintsbaseball.com for the channel in your area) and heard on Relevant Radio 1330.

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